Celtics' 2013 trade with Nets looking better

With Paul Pierce leaving Brooklyn for the Washington Wizards after just one season, the Nets got very little in return for giving up three first-round draft picks and a hefty trade exception to the Celtics.

The move that was made 13 months ago was one that made perfect basketball sense.

With the expiration date on the Celtics’ days as championship contenders having arrived, it was time to look to the future rather than hold on to the past.

So on the day of the 2013 NBA Draft, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge decided to unload future Hall of Famers Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and commence with the rebuilding process.

As Ainge looked for takers, he found one willing to overpay in a big way.

The Brooklyn Nets and free-spending owner Mikhail Prokhorov gave the Celtics much more than they could have expected for two players nearing the end of brilliant careers.

To get Garnett and Pierce (plus throw-ins Jason Terry and D.J. White), the Nets sent three first-round draft picks and five players.

In addition, the Celtics were given the option to change first-round picks with the Nets in 2017 and a $10.3 million trade exception to be used within a year.

The Nets’ bid to vault immediately into prime contender status, however, fell flat under first-year coach Jason Kidd as they were just another team.

Now, with Pierce agreeing to a two-year contract with the Washington Wizards on Sunday, the desperate trade the Nets made with the Celtics has become even worse for Brooklyn.

Pierce lasted only one season and Garnett, who has a year left on his contract, might decide to call it a career rather than return.

The Nets got off to a horrible start with their new-look team in the 2013-14 season, then recovered but were no match for the Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs.

Garnett, who is now 38, was limited to only 54 games and managed to average only 6.5 points and 6.6 rebounds.

Pierce averaged a career-low 13.5 points while playing in all but seven games.

The idea of having Garnett and Pierce being the final pieces for a title contender fell flat, and the Celtics capitalized on the Nets’ miscue.

The Nets had a payroll of $110 million and will pay a $90 million luxury tax, all for a team that went 44-38.

They have also painted themselves in a corner down the road by giving up so many first-round picks to Boston.

The Celtics, who will have just one player left from the trade next season in Gerald Wallace, used the Nets’ first-rounder last month to draft Kentucky freshman James Young.

They will also have the Nets’ first-round selection in 2016 and 2018 along with the right to swap positions in 2017. Given the way the Nets could be headed downhill, those picks are looking pretty good right now.

In addition, the $10.3 million trade exception came in handy last week when the Celtics received center Tyler Zeller from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Marcus Thornton from the Nets in a three-team trade.

Page 2 of 2 - The Celtics were going nowhere with Pierce and Garnett, so Ainge put sentiment aside and made the best possible deal he could for a pair of thirtysomethings.

The Nets were going for broke with a lineup of Garnett, Pierce, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez, but that didn’t work, and now Kidd is coaching the Milwaukee Bucks.

“Today, the basketball gods smiled on the Nets,’’ said Prokhorov in a press release announcing the trade with the Celtics last summer.

The only team smiling as a result of that trade, however, is the Celtics.

Jim Fenton may be reached at jfenton@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFenton_ent.